He received his doctorate in the language of "small" theater among Norwegian shoe dancers

Do you think shoe players spoke the “teÆÆteRR language” in the old days? Or are they snowing and wasting a lot today?

He has now taken over as theater director Ragnhild Gjefsen at the University of Bergen PhD in this subject: How Norwegian theater actors tried to sound real and natural when they spoke.

She studied the way actors spoke to make the characters realistic and natural, so we could believe them.

Artificial and contrived

Jephsen analyzes eight plays from the 1930s to the 1990s, including four versions of Ibsen's play. Doll houseAnd four newer pieces.

– Was it ironic when Nora and Helmer spoke on the program “Nationaaal-theææætrrrret” in 1939?

– It seems strange today. What was seen as realistic or natural in the 1930s would be completely artificial to us today, Jephsen diplomatically says.

– When it comes to slang expressions from the 70s and 80s, it's easy to think of the films Wam and Vennerød, which Lassi and limeshe thinks.

There is perhaps the most famous sentence of a Norwegian bootlegger:

“Can you pick up a few again?” You're rushing like a locomotive!”

“In retrospect, this seems too contrived,” Jephson says less diplomatically.

To hide the chart

I've seen some definite changes in the way shoegaze players try to look real and natural on stage. For example, small words and sounds.

1930s: Lots of “uhh”-ing and “mmm”-ing – a trick to make it sound like you're saying something for the first time.
1950s: Pull the words out a little, and add little words like “yes” and “you.”
1970s: Lots of little words, like “Yes!”, “Maybe”, “What?” And “Yes Yes Yes”.

– Or, for example, that Liz Feldstad as Nora in 1973 speaks with food in her mouth. All of these are ways in which replicas are “disguised” by planning.

In the 1990's I see they're starting to cut the text. Take long single numbers, for example.

-Speak less, simply put. It is not usual for people to keep their word for so long on their own.

Horny shaking and frantic breathing

Jephsen has also looked at how shoehorn players express themselves senses Through language.

– In the 1930s they used vibrato, that is, dramatic vibration on the vocal cords. It sounds so corny today, but it was an effective method at the time.

– In the fifties and seventies they used breathes On the vocal cords. The inhalation and exhalation are exciting and frenetic.

She says that language and behavior on the theatrical stage at any time are linked to tradition and culture in general:

What is expected and acceptable public behavior at the present time.

– In the 90s, there will be more screaming, screaming, crying and snarking. Strong and frank feelings. Something like this would have seemed very strange in the 1930s, Jephsen says.

He gets angry at the tone

It shows an example where Henrik Mestad as Helmer roars in a vision from 1999 and switches from his Bokmål dialect to Bømlo when he gets angry.

-It's a tool for anger in a real way. Just as he loses his facade.

Skodesper Kristi-Helene Engeberg at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen was 31 years old and still in primary school when Torvald Helmer roared with a pomelo accent in 1999.

In 2021, she herself plays Nora in A Doll's House.

She believes that being able to play with her own accent is important.

– Gives authenticity and freedom as a shoe player. It is much easier to communicate your feelings in your own language or dialect. Simply be more believable and realistic on stage.

To believe in yourself

But Engberg sees it no In their profession like to use tricks and techniques progress Of course, but like uh He is Real on stage

-In theater school, I never talked about being normal. Ask about What do you want ? – To do that Important, So that the character becomes so desperate that it's just He should He speaks. Then customize it so I can believe it myself.

-But we all know it's a fantasy game and not real?

– Both and. Even though I'm a shoemaker, I'm actually a real person standing there. The emotions that arise in theater are real, Engeberg says.

– I'm not thinking about how to say this in the most natural way possible. It will take me completely away from this situation.

Oslo Nynorsk?

NRK's theater critic, Karin Frosland Nestel, is happy that Norwegian actors can speak the dialect, and no longer just the standard Oslo language. But she can control her enthusiasm to roar on stage.

-If there is a lot of emotional screaming, I distance myself as a supporter. It becomes very clear. One can, for example, express anger in a very low voice, and it can be disgusting and terribly effective.

I really believe that footballers in this country are able to speak in a way that sounds natural.

-I don't sit a lot and I think it's annoying for me now.

– Such a small and unnatural theatrical language is rare?

– So, I know that many people think that speaking Nynorsk in Det Norske Teatret is tiring, especially with foreigners who have to speak Nynorsk. But you have to remember that theater is a fantasy, so the potential alienation that occurs there is probably part of the package, Nestel says.

– Not more normal today

Ragnhild Jefsen hopes her study will show that there is neither today The language of theater is natural, I think.

In fact, it's no more normal today than it used to be. Footballers only use other treatments, which I only accept today, because I'm used to it. But everything was already organised.

-Are you a bit of a fool and uncover the deepest tricks used by shoehorn players?

– Rather, I should give them some credit for using the language of theater intelligently.